In
2010 QRD
started a series
of interviews with guitar players after spending two years coming up
with 58 questions about approaches & techniques of playing,
&
since it's QRD all the guitarists were a bit out of the mainstream.
After ten sets of interviews it was time to bundle everything
together & ask the guitarists if they had some sound to
contribute.
So we ended up with something pretty massive. 55
tracks of
guitarists pushing their instruments & rigs. A 50+
page
digital booklet. A 2388 page ebook of interviews with
guitarists. I like to think I went all out on this.
I feel
like there’s no justice in mentioning individual contributors &
barely even genres. The pieces flow from ambient to folk to
drone
to jazz to metal to noise & back around several times in its
nearly
4 hour run time. So sit back & relax & drone
out &
bliss out & freak out a good chunk of your day away.

Various artist
compilations comes in many forms and sizes, but this 2014 compilation
from US label Silber Records is a rather unique one I think, at least
when seen in the greater totality of this package. It’s called “QRD –
The Guitarists”, is a digital only production, and clocks in at an easy
4 hours playing time or thereabouts. None of which marks this is a
production outside of ordinary bounds mind you, as it is the content of
this package rather than the length and format that is the main talking
matters here. I should probably add that those with an interest in
ordinary guitar virtuoso performers in various styles will not have an
interest in this compilation at all. There are no blues masters to be
found here, nor any unheralded masters of jazz or jazzrock. As for
those with an affection for metal and shredding, there’s just a token
example of this here, and in the greater context this is more an
incidental case than anything else. What this production is all about,
are the more or less unheralded guitar players exploring the outermost
edges of music, the ones exploring the many different borderlands
between music and mere sound.This production is about more than the
mere music though. QRD is a fanzine that have been around for some 20
odd years at this point, for most of the time co-existing with creator
Brian John Mitchell’s record label Silber Records, based out of North
Carolina in the United States. A common feature of that fanzine have
been interviews with musicians, where a set questionnaire have been
developed where the musicians approached have been asked numerous
detailed questions about gear, tech, technique, habits, likes and
dislikes, dreams and visions concerning their craft and their
instruments. Fascinating reads for those with a keen interest in the
guitar, presumably, and perhaps most of all for fellow musicians in
general and guitarists in particular. 20 years or so of those detailed
interviews is a part of this package, provided as an electronic book
counting up to an impressive 2388 pages long PDF document. If you love
to read about guitarists and their thoughts and opinion on their
instrument, their craft and related topics this is a book that most
likely should occupy you for an hour or two. More than 100 musicians
have been covered, although I would guess that the greater majority of
them are unknown outside of the mostly niche environments they populate.The
second part of this production is the music. 55 of the
guitarists, including Mitchell himself, have chosen to contribute music
to this project. The greater majority of the material operate
within the quadrant of drones, post rock, ambient and noise rock, many
of them combining two or more of these elements. In addition there are
contributions that may, more or less broadly, be placed inside the
context of folk, psychedelic music and jazz, and some singular
excursions that arguably may be best described as residing within the
classical and metal universe respectively. What all of them have in
common is that they are all instrumental only.These contributions
are diverse in form as well. Some come across as mere technical
showcases, others as single instrument details presented outside of a
full compositional context, the standalone guitar based texture from a
full band composition. Most of them are fully developed creations
though, ranging from single instrument creations to more elaborate
affairs with sophisticated, multiple layered arrangements and well
developed theme developments. The sheer range of styles and approaches
will make this album something of a roller-coaster ride for those who,
like me, are mere listeners, and that much of the material is rather
challenging as well does make this a rather taxing experience. I kind
of guess that the number of people able to listen intently through the
full four hours here in one sitting is limited.All in all this is
an impressive production, the combination of text and music makes this
package a virtual behemoth, literally speaking when considering
publishing format. As I am but a mere listener my conclusion is based
solely on the musical merits I got from the musical contributions,
which merits specifying I suspect. How large the potential audience for
such a production will be is something that I find much more difficult
to estimate. Those with a keen interest in guitarists with a style and
approach often well outside of the common norms and genres should
probably be made aware of this production I guess, and I would suspect
that guitarists who treasure fellow musicians with such an approach is
another possible audience too.~ Olav Martin Bjørnsen, House of Prog

Another release that
somehow managed to lose itself in the horror that was the blue screen
of death – a matter further handicapped by the fact that we’ve mislaid
our original written guide notes – is a mammoth undertaking by the
Silber imprint whose recent catalogue and buoyant activity therein is
much deserving of a peak, something which I hasten to add we will all
in good time once we find a spare hour or two. For now though ‘QRD –
the guitarists’ – a hulking gathering of the undergrounds finest
practitioners of the six string set across 4 hours of music taking in
55 contributions covers a wealth of sonic spectrums from noise,
ambient, dream, shoe gaze, drone and more and within including a real
labour of love – a 2000 plus page ebook hosting 20 years worth of
interviews with over 150 guitarists. An immense achievement and
something that in time we suspect will deservedly be referenced rightly
so as legendary. Alas due to time constraints and as previously noted –
the annoying fact that we’ve not only lost our original review but with
it our own hand scribbled guide notes – we’ll for now just cherry pick
a few familiar friends from the extensive list. First up on the
inspection blocks – Yellow6 – with ‘set your heart on the stars’ which
finds Mr Atwood loosening up and go all fuzzy and psychotropic in a
kind of a mind lost heading space wards and beyond Julian Cope style
and gouging the fracturing edges in lashings of down n’ dirty stoned
out blues which aside appealing to those shade adorning floppy fringe
types among you ought to attract the attention of those tuned into the
spiked psych of primordial undermind. Next up Azalia Snail who sent us
a lovely little notes along with sound files of new stuff which for the
life of me – for now – we’ve lost sight (and ear) of – for now though
while we go off in search of the errant tykes there’s always the quite
wonderful ‘getting lei’d’ to be going on with, just adoring the candy
skinned flavoured pop oozing through this, all dissipating sea breezy
vibes and lazy eyed demurring inclines that lend their way to fondly
recalling dreamy days misspent lying beneath tree shades cutting
surreal shapes from out of the passing wispy clouds above. Plumerai’s
Martin Newman undergoes something of a psychotic overdrive for
‘secondhand emotion’ – seriously tripping stuff and just out there
stoked and smoked out on bonged out hazes of hulking psychotropics on
board some mystic astral ride which midway through sumptuously blossoms
to reveal delicate hints of Goblin’s ‘suspiria’ being spiked and
fractured by sonic sun spot activity. Fruits de Mer regulars Sendelica
are serviced here by Peter Bingham whose ‘sendelica soundscape #2’
provides for a mind wiping 6 minute head kick of woozy oriental
hypnosis, reality altering mirages and looping dream machine cycles
which should you need sonic reference markers we’d be prone to say that
admirers of Roy Montgomery will dig in an instant. Silber head man and
Remora dude Brian John Mitchell opts for some deeply demurring glacial
sereneness for ‘hills of elfshima’ which comes kissed in the kind
mesmeric cradt we’ve come to know and expect from such riff patrons as
Wil Bolton and David A Jaycock. It’s been way too long for our liking
since Bill Horist had occasion to visit upon these pages, ‘ours scars
of braille withheld’ is lovingly frost sculptured, isolationist drone
for the best part that strangely finds him a tad quiet and withdrawn
exploring inner sound spaces to flesh out a tapestry of
shimmering orbs and bowed instrumentations- but be honest you didn’t
expect matters to remain so – er – normal and tranquil, good – because
matters take a turn at the 3.45 mark and things start to unravel and
fracture into a sublime groan of white noise oblivion a la Bruce
Russell. That said those preferring their listening space shimmered in
twilight hazed astral folk mirages will do well to seek out Alan
Sparhawk’s ‘la la daughter mouth’ for required daily dosage intakes of
mellowing blissfulness and well just for the hell of it drawn as we
were by the title alone – ‘we found a chocolate cake in a basket broken
in two pieces’ Julien Ottavi applies himself to turning in 7 minutes of
sonic shrapnel courtesy of the type of groaning doom dusted reverbs and
off the wall riff bending that sofas were made for to hide behind.~ The Sunday Experience

Silbermedia you will
have come across many a time on the various reviews, as they are
another out-fit who manage to unearth some fascinating sounds, which
they send my way.
As a different project by Brian lays QRD – a
fanzine dating back to the late 1990′s and just recently a new
compilation LP appeared – entitled The Guitarists and it is exactly
what it says on the tin – guitarists and their guitars.
I could
review each individual track, there are fifty five of them spread over
four hours of exploratory sounds, but not only would I be writing until
next week, you would have fallen asleep by the time you got to the end
of the article. To do so would also be less than half the story as the
full release, running to almost four hours, comes with a fifty eight
page digital booklet and just under two and a half thousand pages of
interviews with the guitarists.
I could make a ‘pick of the release’ but attempting that, would be like
catching wafts of smoke.
So – I would ask you to find a few hours to take a listen to the whole
LP below.
~ Emerging Indie Bands

I don’t normally do CD reviews at Guitar Moderne. If something
truly cool comes across the transom, I try to get an interview with the
artist. QRD—The Guitarists is different. I’m sure you all understand
that it can get lonely out here in modern guitar world, among the
thousands of guitarists playing the same old rock, jazz, country,
blues, punk, and so-called alternative stuff. So, imagine my joy at
receiving this recording of 55 solo, modern guitar performances, 53 of
them by artists I have never heard before (Bill Horist I have covered a
number of times, including here , I am aware of Robert Poss from Band
of Susans)QRD–The Guitarists is QRD’s second compilation from
Silber Records. The release also includes a 50+ page digital booklet
with track listing and recording info for many tracks, as well as a
2388 page eBook of interviews with guitarists and bassists culled from
Brian John Mitchell’s 20 years of putting out the zine QRD. In addition
Mitchell’s media empire includes Silber Records and Silber Comics.
(Silber Records puts out terrific records from all over the world of
particular interest to Guitar Moderne readers).I am heartened by
the consistent quality of the music. Though there are some similarities
among many of the drone and ambient approaches it works. Track flows
into track creating a unified listening experience. The music somehow
manages to range from quiet ambience to aggressive noise without
feeling too disparate.The interviews will keep me busy for months.
So far, they reveal a class of creative guitarists pursuing music that
is financially unrewarding, causing them to make music with the few
tools they can afford. Unfortunately the interviews suffer a bit from
lack of editing, which might have removed some of the repetition caused
by questions that cover similar ground.Still, I look forward to
revisiting the music and wading through the rest of the interviews.
This release should provide enough potential subjects to keep Guitar
Moderne going for years. QRD–The Guitarists is a must for fans and
players who wants to check out the state of modern guitar—and feel a
little less alone.~ Guitar Moderne